Students Become Hairstylist During Four-Day District Camp

During the school year, Sylvia Perez is a Family Engagement Liaison for Duncanville ISD. Her job is to build a bridge between parents and schools. But this summer, she's a stylist building a bridge between high school students and their dream of becoming a hairstylist.

"I am a hairstylist. I've been a hair stylist for so many years now. I don't do it full-time. I do it as a side job now." Because Perez works for the district but is a licensed hair stylist, Director of Career & Technical Education/College, Career & Military Readiness, Shalontae Payne approached Perez in 2022, asking her if she would mind teaching the next generation of Duncanville High School stylists. "I met Ms. Shalontae Payne and she invited me to do campus support with the Cosmetology CTE department." 

Since last year, Perez teaches students during an intense and immersive four-day summer camp. Perez is doing what she can to develop students into modern and efficient stylists. In this summer's camp, nine students enrolled. "The purpose of this camp is to teach them the skills so when they go into the real world, the salon world they know and be confident with their clients. They will know how a salon works. The duties that you have to do. So that they can feel more comfortable when they go on the floor."

Perez has varied experience with different types of textures of hair. She taught her students how to work on straight hair, curly hair, and coarse hair. Methods her students valued. "She's taught us how to do more volume. I have never seen doing round brushes and leaving them in their hairs," said rising Senior Paola LaBastiba. Paola said that Perez taught her different methods and pattern from her regular Cosmetology teacher at the DHS. "A lot of things that she has taught us, Ms. Ramirez [Michelle Ramirez Cosmetology teacher] might have taught a different way or shown a different technique." The camp has helped widen Paola's range as a cosmetology student. 

Fellow Rising Senior and camp classmate Paris Hayden agree. "She [Perez] has taught us easier ways to do it, like round brush. She's taught us to pull the hair and create tension so our final result is more smooth and not as puffy." Paris found the way Perez taught the class to do blowouts creates a better look for the hair. " It's a simple hairstyle but she taught us how to create body and volume while using a round brush and a blowdryer." 

And for students who are only used to working with one type of textured hair, Perez expanded their knowledge during the four days. "She taught us how to do more textures such as curly hair and silk presses, by doing it on us," explained Pairs. Styling textured hair was a new thing for Paola " I've been doing my friend Kierana's hair and that was my first time doing textured hair. I was blow drying it with another girl."


"We have three days to learn everything to put in practice on the last day. Three days of really intense training," said Perez while teaching and guiding a student. On the last day of the camp, after vigorous teaching and learning, students worked on district administrators' hair. That's a lot of pressure to work on the hair of Directors and Chiefs' in your school district as a high school student, but Perez believed she got the girls ready. 

"We have three days to learn everything to put in practice on the last day.  One of the girls came to me this morning and said, 'Ms. Perez, I feel very nervous. I don't think I'm going to do a good shampoo.' I said, 'You're going to get everything. Clients can be very picky. Always look for solutions and be very nice,'" advised Perez. It's that sage advice solidified with good teaching that eased the nerves of Perez's student Paola.

"I'm not as nervous as I thought I'd be because Ms. Silvia did a good job of getting us prepared for the clients."  With that preparation, Perez students become less nervous and more confident about becoming hairstylists once they leave DHS.